>>77235291Shylily could potentially sue the girl in the middle and win. The main issues here are Unfair Competition, Right of Publicity, and Trade Dress
Unfair Competition refers to unlawful practices, such as trademark infringement, trade defamation, false advertising, and any other act which confuses consumers regarding the source of the product or service. Since she is using a character that is nearly identical to Shylily's character, a lawyer would argue that viewers might get confused and mistakenly believe that she is Shylily. This could lead to her unfairly benefiting from Shylily's reputation and fan base, which is seen as unfair competition.
Right of Publicity is an individual’s right to control and profit from the commercial use of his/her name, likeness, and persona. This right is meant to prevent unauthorized appropriations of one’s identity for commercial benefit. Since Shylily has a very distinct and recognizable character, that character is considered part of her identity and persona. A court could find that the other girl created a character that is too similar and that viewers could confuse it with Shylily. This is an infringement of RoP.
Trade Dress is a trademark protection covering the image and overall likeness of a product. In the context of vtubers, trade dress applies to the unique visual elements that make a character distinctive and recognizable. This includes things like color schemes, clothing, accessories, and certain behaviors/mannerisms. For a trade dress claim to be valid, Shylily's character design must be distinctive. It must be unique enough that people can immediately associate it Shylily. Since the other girl's model is nearly identical, a lawyer would argue that it dilutes the distinctiveness of the Shylily's character
